PL6 Spoilers ahead, just warning you.
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Sherlock glared at the man that was sitting in front of Lestrade's desk, as if glaring would simply get Professor Sycamore to leave.
"Perhaps me and Eve should take this case on our own" Sophia suggested, but Sherlock shook his head.
"This is the only interesting case I've had for weeks, but I refuse to work with anyone else after the last fiasco" Sherlock stated. Professor Sycamore pushed his glasses up his nose at that, looking to Lestrade. Lestrade was pinching the bridge of his nose and looking up at Sophia in despair.
"However much I would prefer it if you took the case yourself, we need everyone on this case, even Mary if possible" the Hunter explained, to which Sophia nodded and pulled out her phone. Molly joined the group in Lestrade's office five minutes later with her autopsy results, Sherlock stopped glaring at Sycamore at that point to focus on Molly, for which the professor was grateful.
"As you've probably already guessed, Sherlock doesn't work well with others"
"Yes, I'd gathered that. I'm curious as to what the previous incident was"
"Well, you understand that none of our little group are human, minus Lestrade of course, but most of us act like it to throw off the suspicion"
"You'd certainly fooled me"
"Sherlock is a dhampir, Eve is a full vampire and psychic, I am a werewolf and psychic, Molly there is an angel. The two of our group you are about to meet are John and Mary, John is a werewolf and Mary is Fae. Any questions?" Sophia explained, to which Desmond only raised an eyebrow.
"How do you all coexist peacefully?" he questioned after a while. Sophia laughed at that.
"It's tough sometimes, I'll give you that, but we manage to survive somehow"
"What exactly is your reason for being here?" John questioned, having been here for several minutes and now caught up with the case.
"I am the expert on Targent, having had the most dealing with them through my research into the supernatural, they have a bad habit of taking my research before I complete it"
"So you're familiar with the supernatural world, and judging by the way you clench your fists at the mention of the word 'Targent' you've had to fight them off before, so-" Sherlock began, but Sophia stood on his foot to cut him off.
"You think you can deduce my entire life in an attempt to scare me away, but think about it, if I can hold my own against Targent then I can survive a few of your sharp words" Sycamore's words left everyone staring at him for a moment.
"This is going to be an interesting case; would you care to fully explain it?" Sycamore suggested, so Lestrade nodded and began to explain.
"Large groups of people are being abducted in broad daylight, they were later identified as creatures" Lestrade paused as he noticed Baker Street's occupants twitch at the term.
"Sorry guys, but it's the easiest way to say it. They vary from werewolves to vampires, there have been several demons and Fae taken too. Before you ask, no-one has gone anywhere near the bookshop" Lestrade finished, to which Sophia relaxed slightly.
"I don't think it's a good idea to pull them in on this case, we don't need them discovered" Eve stated, Sophia nodding her agreement. Sycamore just looked between the pair confused, so Molly took pity on him and explained.
"The bookshop is home to an angel and a demon that Sophia has become friends with and visits often, mostly for old information" Sophia's phone beeped on cue and she pulled it out of her pocket, her face falling as she read, looking up to find everyone looking to her.
"Az and Crowley are at Baker Street, a large group just tried to grab them on their way out of the park" she simply stated, to which Molly's eyes widened slightly.
"How old are this angel and demon, if you don't mind me asking?" Sycamore asked, breaking the silence that had settled for a few moments.
"They were part of Eden" Eve answered, causing Sycamore to nod.
"A key target for Targent then, perfect for experiments, as all of you become if they notice you"
"How exactly do you know how Targent works?" John questioned, one eyebrow raised sceptically.
"They took my parents when I was a child. My mother was buried not long after; do I need any more proof?" Sycamore snapped in reply, which seemed to be enough for John, but Sherlock sensed that there was more to the story. However, Sophia's move to leave the office stopped him from questioning it as Sycamore followed.
Timeskip
The first thing Sophia did when she arrived at 221B was run into her flat. She stopped at the door when she caught sight of Flora sat between Aziraphale and Crowley.
"It'll be okay, I'm sure they'll help" Aziraphale was saying to Flora. The girl was trying not to cry.
"What are we helping with?" Sophia questioned as she walked in, sitting in her seat.
"They took the professor" Flora answered, finally breaking down.
"I only left for half an hour, how is that possible?" Sycamore muttered to himself. Flora looked up from her hands and was on her feet in an instant, crossing the room faster than anyone had thought possible, clinging to Professor Sycamore. Flora's attempt to explain was muffled by Sycamore's jacket and Sycamore's attempt to calm Flora stopped Sophia from questioning the professor's question, so she turned her attention to the angel and demon sitting on the sofa.
"What happened with you two? Are you okay?" she asked as she took Flora's previous seat between the two.
"There isn't much to tell, we got ambushed after feeding the ducks and transported to your doorstep, where we found Flora knocking on the door to get in. Crowley sent the text and then you turned up" Aziraphale explained quickly. Sophia shrugged at that, turning her attention back to Sycamore and Flora, who were now having a conversation as Flora had calmed down. She didn't pick up much as it was interrupted by the opening of the door to 221C, revealing Sherlock, Molly and Eve.
"We've worked out where Targent is based!" Eve announced, practically bouncing on the spot.
"How?" Sycamore questioned with a suspicious edge to his voice.
"The small bits of evidence left at the crime scenes, following vehicles through cameras, etcetera. Now come on, we need to go!" Eve explained. Everyone started to leave, but Sophia stopped Flora before she managed to follow professor Sycamore through the door.
"No Flora, you stay here with Azira and Crowley. I don't want you to get hurt if it comes to a fight" Sophia ordered, turning Flora around and nudging her back into the flat before following the others.
Timeskip
Sophia followed Sherlock through the door, pausing at the sight that met them. The entire warehouse complex appeared to be set out as a giant laboratory, certain rooms containing creatures, some empty.
"I told you that it was a large operation" Sycamore whispered. Sophia smirked as she nodded while Sherlock just walked off to explore the warehouse. Sophia followed suit, freeing the creatures as she went, noticing Sycamore ahead of her searching for his colleague.
Sherlock quickly moved into the next warehouse in the complex, saying something about checking on John and Mary, leaving Sophia to continue clearing the current one with Sycamore. Silence filled the warehouse after that, until a voice broke it.
"Desmond turn around it's a-" Sophia heard as she headed toward the noise, only for it to be cut off as something hit the back of her head, causing the world to spin and a ringing noise filled her ears.
"What the hell?" Sophia grumbled, shaking her head to clear the ringing. She was stunned to find a pair of hands pulling her arms behind her, a steel grip holding them in place before she was marched towards the voices.
"I wondered when you were going to show up. I didn't realise you'd bring a pet with you though" Sophia held her snarl, refusing to rise to the taunt that came from the man holding her.
"Leave her alone Bronev, this was only a trap for me" Sycamore demanded, helping Layton to his feet.
"You brought her along Desmond, it's your own fault" Bronev replied, at which Sophia snarled.
"No, you were merely impatient, I would have left soon enough" Sophia stated, pulling herself out of Bronev's grip. Sycamore grabbed the collar of her coat as she turned to face Bronev, pulling her away from Targent's leader before she did something stupid.
"You boys really know which friends to make don't you? The Baker Street family, the angel and demon in the bookshop and a few more across the water. All of them valuable to me" Sophia tutted, interrupting Bronev's little speech.
"And I thought I had daddy issues" Sophia began. "I mean, the most mine did was kick me out, but you are a real piece of work. Taking control of a company that killed your wife and left your children orphans, you then left your children to grow up and turned them into vampires, automatically expecting them to fall in line beside you. You were surprised when they attempted to continue their own lives, both of them returning to teaching, night school to adapt to their new forms. You still found a way to interrupt their lives though, which led us all here. You're only just realising how much of a mistake that is because you're facing down the entirety of New Scotland Yard's Hunter division as well as heavenly forces and the Baker Street family. I don't have to say that you're an idiot, do I?"
Bronev remained silent as Sophia finished, under the orders of Eve, who had a gun to his back and a knife resting against his throat. Bronev glanced at his men, giving a sharp nod to then before he turned, tackling Eve and taking the gun from her. Bronev's men made their move, to which chaos erupted.
"What are we facing here?" Sherlock asked Sycamore as pulled the knife out of one of Bronev's men that had attacked him.
"Different creatures, completely different combinations than my last encounter" Sycamore shouted back. He narrowly avoided Sophia's sword as she ran through the creature behind him.
"You wouldn't-?" before Desmond could finished, Sophia had handed over a set of throwing knives she'd dug out of one of her hidden pockets. She received a nod as thanks as Sycamore joined the fight.
A shot sounded behind Sophia and she flinched at the noise, but kept her sword on its path to impale another Targent creature. Sophia briefly noted that Mary took the shot, seeing the Fae in the warehouse doorway with the large golden wolf that was John. John ran into the fight, knocking a Targent agent to the floor before it managed to injure Sherlock, who nodded to the wolf as it continued.
No matter how many agents the group dealt with, more somehow continued to appear, Bronev was long gone, leaving his men to fight it out. Sophia looked to Sycamore as he attempted to be heard over the chaos, noticing something shining on Sycamore's tie.
The instant she got a good look at it, Sophia recognised it as the daylight talisman she'd given to Descole. Before Sophia could say anything about it, the mass of Hunters pouring through the doors caught her attention. The fight was ended soon after that.
Sycamore tucked the talisman away before Sophia could point it out, casually handing Sophia the throwing knives back, already cleaned of the blood. He then followed the Baker Street family back out into the rest of the complex to finish freeing the other creatures.
Timeskip
It was several hours before they all returned to Baker Street, only for Layton to leave once again once he was reunited with Flora. Sycamore stayed, remaining in his seat on 221C's sofa while everyone else headed upstairs to the better lab/kitchen to test some samples they'd grabbed from the Targent warehouse.
"Why didn't you follow your brother?" Sophia questioned.
"What do you mean?"
"Leon Bronev called you and Layton 'boys' implying that you are Layton's brother. I originally thought he meant that you were a third brother, but that was incorrect, wasn't it Descole?" Sycamore remained silent for a few minutes, formulating a response.
"Was that a deduction or was it that obvious?" he eventually asked.
"It isn't obvious, but I got a chance to watch you fight. If only for a brief second, I recognised the technique. The talisman that spent most of the fight resting on your tie was a big clue too." Sophia explained, relaxing back into her chair as Sycamore sighed. He simply pulled the signature white mask out of his pocket and placed it on the coffee table.
"I already believed you; I didn't need the proof, though it is good to know that I wasn't seeing things" Sophia said with a smirk.
"Are you going to tell the others?"
"Of course not, let's wait and see how long it takes them to figure it out" Sophia answered, to which Sycamore chuckled.